GEMCRAL



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OF T-EXAS

. April 20, 1964

Honorable Doug Crouch Opinion No. C-246 Criminal DistrictAttorney Tarrant County Courthouse Re: Questionsrelating to Fort Worth, Texas responsibility for and authorityover indigent Dear Mr. Cr.nIch: aged county residents.

You have requested an opinion from this officeupon the followingquestiona:

"1. Who Is chargedwith the reaponalblllty of providing for the Indigentaged of Tarrant County?
"2. Uho Is responsiblelor the supervision of the Tarrant County Home for Aged, a county owned and operatedresidentialinstitutionfor aged and convalescent persons. “3. Can the Commissioners Court and/or JuvenileBoard of Tarrant County lease to any private lndlvldualor corporation,county owned property for the purpose of that individualor corporation

upon which-to build a convalescent home for the aged?

“4. Can the Commlssloners Court and/or Juvenile Board of Tarrant County contractwith any lndlvldualor corporationfor a period of time in excess of two years for the care of the Indigentaged? “5

. Can the Commlssloners Court and/or Juvenile Board of Tarrant County contractwith an indl,vldual

or corporationfor the care of incigent aged and guarantee in that contract to pay for a greater number oi people than -?.ose actuallybeing caped for by the lndlvidualBon. Doug Crouch,page 2 (C-246 )

or corporation (Eg. A Slat guarantee of 100 residentsper month with only 75 persons actually receiving care.) “6. Can the Commissioners Court and/or JuvenileBoard of Tarrant County contract wlth any individualor corporationto care for the indigentaged In a private Sacllltg at an agxeed rate pep patient or resident secelvlng care. “7. Can the county agency or department assigned the ~~~sponalblllty for the care of the lndlgentaged arrangewithout a kitten7 contract for the care and realdenceFS thosF Indigent aged wards In existing convalescent homes9 boarding hornear or hospitals.

was Lbee the Commlasloners Court or the JuveHle Bc~srd

make the determination as to whethen o,n

not the county should continue to care for indfgentaged persons In a county home Q? whether such persons should be place{ with pHvste fnetltutlona at county expense?
Your first and second qpestlonscan be answered togetker

a Under the provisionsof SCctlon 11, Article 2351, Vernon15 Civil statutes,the Commlsslonera' Court has t~he

duty tc: %l Provide for the support of paupe-s and such'ldiots

,andluratlcsas cannot be admftted into the lunatic asylum, residents OS. their county,yho are unable to support themeelvea.

. e .a UhSle It Is true that the Commlssloners~ Court Is a court CC lfmited @rlsdlctlon, ft is also true that where a duty is imposed or a power con.Semedby statuteupon a commlssloners court rithln the boundariesof power which the Constltution has created, then the.comaiaeloners court has implied authority to exerolaebroad discretionto accomplishpurposes intendedby such statute. El Paso County v. Elan 93 (Ter.Clv.App.

1937'); h&on v. Wapshall 118 k.;O~dSg~i2d
199 error dism.); Anderson 4. Wood, i37 Tex. 2019 152 SaW02d 1064 (1941).

2cier the provfafonaof Sectfon li, Article23519 'Z xt-y to ::rovia"

for tbe support of paupers, rhfch includes "2 :"zq5,?."

f%+$.Eds is tiposedupcn ?~hs Conmssimers Cciirt.i hon. Doug Crouch,page 3 (C-246 )

The inawer to the second questionalso Is that the Commlssloners CGurc,, rather than the JuvenileBoard, la responsiblefor the supervisionof the Tarrant County Home for the Aged.

+C,tentlcn

In peg&-d to your third question,you directed our to Section 19(d), Article 2351, Vernon's Clvll Statutes, which IS as follows:

"19(d). Countlea are expressly authorized and empoweredto lease or rent any lands, housing, c,r faclIltlesacquiredby them pursuant to this Act acd to establishand revise the rent or charges therefor. a . .v IS the particularpropertywas acquiredpursuant to Section 19(a), Article 2351, Vernon's Civil Statutes, then we answer your question In the afflrmatlve.

In connectionwith your fourth question, certain provlslona ln Section 7 of Article XI of the Constitution or Texas, provldes that:

D .no debt for any purpose shall ever be incurred In any mEMler by any city or county unless provlslon 1s made, at the time of creating the same9 for levylng and collectinga sufficient tax to pay the interest thereon and provide at least two pep cent (2%) a8 a elnklng fund. Q e ,.' The term "debt" as used ln the above quGted conetltutlonalpr$vlslon has been unlrormly held by the courts of this State to mean any pecuniary obligation imposedby contr8ct3 except euch as were , at the date of the contract, within the lawful and reasor&ble contemplationof the parties, to be satfsfledoJt of the current revenues for the year or out of some fund then within the lmmedlate control of County v. fIacley, 1 Stevensonv. Blake.$3Geex. 103, 113 S.W.2d 54, 150 S.W.2d 980 “CLAera 5

1 0 plrrl;Pl No. v+5z (1952).

In Stevenson v. Blake, 88 S.W.2d 773 (Tes.Clv.App. 1935), arflrmsd ln Stevensonv. Blake, 131 Tex. 103, 113 S.W.2d 525 (I938), the commissioners court had contractedwith certain attorneyswhereby the attorneyswere to be pald in Installments over Y p3+~d in exe58 of a year. The Cou?t, Cn holding the tzon7rsrt ixaiid a3 be1r.g in contravention0r Sect.lon 7 of 2,-.::::*

:<I cr the state Constitutionsstated that2Bon. Doug Crouch,page 4 (C- 246 )

9,
a . .the validity of such contract is determinable

by the good-SaithIntentionof the parties, at the time of contracting, as to whether the county’s obligation Is, upon the one,hand,to be paid out of unappropriated revenues then In hand or to be collectedduring the year of the contractand lawfully available for the purpose, or, upon the other hand, out of revenues to be colleatedafter the termlnatlon of that fiscal year. In the first case, the contractdoes not contravene the constltutlonal limltatlo?lj in the second It does.”
The p-reposed

contractunless payable gut of current revenues for the currentyear would be invalidunless the constitutional

.requlrements

Sound In Section 7, Article XI 0r the Constitution, has first been compliedwith.

Your fifth question concernsa contractualagreement by Tarrant County to pay for a guaranteedminimum number of people, which may be more thazz those actuallyreceiving care. By Section 3 of Article XI of the Constitution of Texas, a county Is enjoined from becoming a subscriberto the capital OS any private corporationor assoclatlonor making my approgrlatlcnor donation or loanlrg Its credit to same. Thus, the commissioners courtsmay not dispose of countyproperty so as to amount virtuallyto a dopatlon. Llano County v. Knowlesi 29 S.W. 549 (Tex.Clv.App. 1895). Although a minimum guarantee by Tarrant County would undoubtedlybe a desirable conQractual feature In the eyes of the other contracting party, we are of the op3.nlon

that the Sunds paid for those Individuals not actually receiving care would amount to a donation by Tsrrant County. As such, It wou,uld violate Section 3, Article XI of the Constitution 0s Texas. We thereS’o,-e answer your fifth question in the negative. Somewhat aln~llar

to the precedingquestion,your sixth question also concerna the contractual power and authority of the Commissioners Cfxrt of Tarrant County. As stated In anP aweringyour SF-& question,where a duty Is imposed or a power conferredupon a comleel~nere court, then the commissioners court has implied authority to exercleebroad discretionto accomplish the purposes intended. When the commissioners courts were expreeslyglven the power and duty ‘to provide for the support 0s paupers,”by necessary implicationthey were clothed xlth the mthority to do all the Incidentalthings necessary to provide for their suppork. Thus, while the commissioners court is not under a duty to place indigents In a prlvate fscllityand psy for their care, Wlllacy County v. valley Baptist !ios~ital,Hon. Doug Crouch,page 5 (C- 246 )

29 S.W.2d 456 (Tex.Clv.App. 1930), It can, In the exerciseof its dlscretlon,

provide for the care of Indigentswhom it places In a private facility. Here, of course, the contractualterms must not be such as to amount to a donation by the County to the lndlvldualor corporation providing the csre, nor can the contractprovide for payments by the County out of future revenues. Therefore,your sixth question 1s answered in the affirmative.

To answer your seventh question,we must determine whether it 1s within the authority of the Commlssloners Court to mange, wathout a written contract,for the csre of the Indigentaged now In existing convalescent homes or hospitals. It has been held that the county 1s liable for the reasonablevalue of servicesreceivedunder sn implied contract,or when the contract actuallymade was void, as long as it was within the authority of the commissioners court to,,make

the contract sought to be implied. D.rrls County v. Nevllle, 84 S.W.2d 834 (Tex. Civ.App. 19 5);

Yjj Bdrlchz: YIas County, 167 S.W.2d 560 (Tex. Clv.App. 19'29 error di

Thus, Is it within the Tarrant County Commissioners Court063

authority to arrange for this care without a written contract. Ffrst, as noted .ln our answer to your previous clues; tlon, when the commlssloners courts were expresslyglqn the power and duty 'to provide for the support of paupersp by necessary implicationthey were clothedwith the authorityto do all. the incidentalthings necessary to provide for their support. So lo.ng

as the indigentsare residents of Tarrant COMtY and unable to support themselves,the commlsslonerscourt 1s given the duty to provide for their support. Whether this provision of mpport is agreed.uponby written contract,or whether It is I ar2angadwlthcut a written contract, seems to have no bearing on t.he question of authority. It Is our oplnlon that It is within the authoHty of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, under> Section 11, Article a51s to arrange without a written cont~~a~t

for the care and residence of those aged Indigents now in exlatlng convalescent homes or hospitals.
In awwep to your last question, the COrnmiSSIOnerS Court makes the determination as to whether the county should continue to care for indigentaged persons ln a county home or whether such persons should be placed with private lnstltutlons at county.expense. The court has the impliedpower to exercise its discretionaa to the means to be employed in providingfor ~the cupport of i%s fndlgentaged. Attorney General'-%in:Gn 2-2217 ~lg~o~.~Hon. Doug Crouch,page 6 (C- 246 )

SUMMARY (1) The Tarrant County Commissioners Court is responsiblefor providing for the Indigentaged of Tarrant County. Further, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court Is responsiblefor the supervisionof the Tarrant County Home for Aged. (2) The Tarrant County Commissioners Court can lease to a private Individualor corporationscounty owned propertyupon which the individualor corporationIs to build a convalescent

home If the particularproperty was acquiredpursuant to Section 19(a), Article 2351,Vernon's Civil Statutes. (3) The Commlsslonere Court cannot contract with an Individualor corporationfor longer than a year unless the constitutional requi.zements

In Section 7, Article XI of the Ccastltution

are flrst compliedwith. (4) The CommlPrsioners Court cannot guarantee In a contract to pay for a greater numbes cf persons than those actually being cszed for by the Individualor corporation. (5) Tke Commlasloners Court can contract with m Individualor corporationto care for the Indigentaged in a private facility at an agreed rate per patient receiving csre. 3 (6: The Commissioners Court can errange with&t a written contract for the care and residence of those Indigentwards In existing convalescent

homes -CP

hospital& (7) The Commieaionerrr Court makes the determkation as to whether the county should cont%nue to care for Indigentaged persons In a county home or whether ach persons should be placed with private institutions at county expense.i ’ ~1

.

‘. Hon. Doug Crouch,page 7 (C- 246 )

ELM:lnkh Very truly yours,
WAGGONHl CARR Attorney General

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chairman John Reeves Gordon Appleman Arthur Sandlln Frank Booth
APPROVEDFOR TEEAT'J!ORNEY GENERAL BY: Stanton Stone 

# By:

gaE. Lawrence Merrlman Assistant